Dump-wagon.



W. A. UNDERHILL.

DUMP WAGON.

APPLIOATION IILIID MAR. 6, 1911.

1,006,1 51. Patented 001;. 17, 1911.

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coLuMmA PLANOGRAPH C0.. WASHINGTON, n. c

OFFCE.

WALTER A. UNDER/HILL, OF AUBURN, NEW YORK.

DUMP-WAGON.

1,ooe,151.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVALTER A. UNDER- HILL, a citizen of the United States, of Auburn, in the county of Cayuga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dump-Wagons, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in dump wagons of the bottom dump type and refers more particularly to the mechanism for controlling the operation of the doors. In this class of wagons it is desirable to have the meeting edges of the doors lap one upon the other when closed to prevent sifting of the material carried in the box through the joint and in order to do this, it is necessary to close one door slightly in advance of the other. In the majority of instances the doors are controlled through the medium of a rotary drum and a suitable cable or cables operatively connected to the doors and adapted to be wound and unwound upon the drum, the drum being rotated by means of a hand-lever and coacting pawl and ratchet wheel. 7

Heretofore so far as I am aware, it has been necessary to employ a separate mechanism commonly known as an equalizer having a distinct function of effecting the closing of one door in advance of the other.

The main object of my present invention is to obviate the necessity for an extra equalizer by constructing the drum in such manner that it will perform the double function of closing one door in advance of the other and of winding and unwinding the cable or cables in the act of closing the doors.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the device will be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front end view of a dump box showing my improved door-controlling mechanism in position for closing one door slightly in advance of the other door. Fig. --2 is a longitudinal section of the same box and door-controlling mechanism shown in Fig. 1--. Fig. -3 is a perspective view of the detached drum and door-operating cables showing the anchor bolts for the rear ends of the cables. Fig. -4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the drum and adjacent portion of its supporting shaft. Fig. 5-- is an elevation of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 6, 1911.

Patented Oct. 17, 1911. Serial No. 612,504.

the same drum showing a means for looking it to the shaft. Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4 of a modified form of drum centrally supported on the shaft.

In Figs. -1- and 2 I have shown a dump box composed of opposite sides 1 and l, front and rear end pieces 2 and -2 and laterally swinging bottom doors 3- and 3 which are hinged at l to the sides and meet at substantially the longitudinal center of the box, the meeting edge of one of the doors having a portion thereof as 5 adapted to overlap upon the adjacent edge of the other door. A rotary drum -6- comprising a shaft 7 and relatively tiltable sleeve -8 is journaled at its ends in suitable bearings 9- on the front end of the box and preferably on the sides -l and 1 directly in front of the front piece 2 and is provided with a ratchet wheel -10 adapted to be engaged by a pawl 11 on a hand lever -1r2 the latter being loosely mounted on the adjacent end of the shaft -7 at one end (preferably the right hand end) of the sleeve 8-, said lever, ratchet wheel and pawl serving as means for rotating the drum in the act of winding the cable on the drum to close the doors.

Any suitable means may be employed for holding the drum against unwinding to maintain the doors in their closed position and for this purpose I have shown a detent 13 engaged with the ratchet wheel 10- and adapted to be tripped by a foot lever -13- to release the drum and doors.

The drum section or sleeve -8 upon and from which the cables as 15- are adapted to be wound and unwound is con 'nected by a universal joint to and around the shaft so as to rotate therewith and at the same time is free to oscillate endwise in any direction and for this purpose the shaft is preferably provided with a spherical bearing -16 fitting with a correspondingly formed socket -17 in the sleeve 8 and preferably a short distance from the longitudinal center or slightly nearer one end for a purpose presently described. Projecting from the bearing 16 are pins 16 which extend in tapering slots 16 whereby the drum or sleeve 8 is connected to the shaft 7 so that when the latter is rotated, the drum or sleeve 8 will be carried therewith. The interior diameter of the remain ing portions of the sleeve is somewhat greater than that of the shaft to permit the oscillatory movement described.

The object in establishing a universal connection between the sleeve and shaft nearer to one end than to the other end is to assure the closing of one door slightly in advance of the other when necessary although in some instances where the overlapping edges are not needed, the universal joint between the sleeve and shaft may be substantially midway between the ends of the sleeve as shown in Fig. 6-. In both instances, however, the oscillatory movement of the sleeve allows limited take-up of any lag or slight difierence in length of the cables so as to insure the positive closing of both doors even though one may be closed slightly in advance of the other.

The front ends of the cables are I attached to suitable eyebolts prothrough suitable guides 21 and have their rear ends attached to anchor bolts 22 or equivalent devices on the rear end of the box some distance above the plane of the doors. The attaching elements -20 w for the cables on the sleeve 8 are preferably located near the ends of the sleeve so as to wind inwardly toward each other in closing the doors thereby exerting more nearly a direct pull when the doors are closed while on the other hand when the drum is released to allow the doors to open, the cables naturally spread apart as they unwind. Another advantage of this method of connecting the cables to the drum is that both doors being of equal weight, the pull on the long end of the sleeve during the initial operation of closing the doors will naturally tilt this end of the sleeve downwardly, thereby allowing the corresponding door to lag while the other door will be drawn a corresponding distance toward its closing position and the doors will maintain this relative position until the one which moves in advance of the other is closed and by the continued rotation of the drum, it is evident that the short end of the sleeve will be drawn downwardly while the longer end will be lifted and thereby close the lagging door.

It is now made manifest that the sleeve -8- performs the double function of closing one door in advance of the other and of automatically adjusting itself to effect the closing of the lagging door by a very slight continued rotation of the drum after the first closing door has reached its closed position. It is also evident that when the drum is released to allow the doors to open under their own gravity or that of the load, the sleeve 8 will naturally assume a tilted position by reason of the difference in leverage between its ends, that is, the long end will be drawn downwardly thereby lifting the shorter end so that when the drum is operated to rewind the cables to close the doors, the one which is connected to the short end of the drum will be closed first after which a slight additional rotary movement of the drum will close the other door.

W hat I claim is 1. A door controlling mechanism for dump wagons comprising a shaft, a hollow tiltable drum mounted thereon, a universal connection between the shaft and the drum at a point between the center and one end of the drum, and connections between the drum and the doors.

2. A door controlling mechanism for dump wagons comprising a shaft, a hollow tiltable drum mounted thereon, a universal connection between the shaft and the drum at a point between the center and one end of the drum, and a pair of cables each having one end connected to the drum at one side of the universal connection, said cables adapted to have their other ends connected to the doors of the wagon.

8. A door controlling mechanism for dump wagons comprising a rotatable shaft, a drum mounted and tiltable upon said shaft, the fulcrum for said drum being positioned nearer one end than the other, means carried by the shaft and engaging with the drum for connecting the latter thereto whereby when the shaft is rotated,

the drum will be carried therewith, and a pair of cables, each of said cables having one end fixed to the drum at one side of its fulcrum, said cables adapted to have their other ends connected to the doors.

4:. A door controlling mechanism for dump wagons comprising a hollow rotary drum tiltable endwise, a shaft extending through said drum and provided with a bearing, said bearing seated in the inner face of said drum at a pointbetween the center and one end of the drum, said drum provided with a pair of tapering openings,

pins carried by the bearing and extending in said opening for revolving the drum when the shaft is rotated, and connections between each end of the drum and door.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 2nd day of March 1911.

XVALTER A. UNDERHILL.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHAsE, E. F. SPEAKING.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

